“He might have a reason beyond his control.” Ellery’s lungs felt tight. Logan might be self-destructing, and it was all her fault.
“You mean his social anxiety? We already know about it. Honey, I’ve got him totally beat with my fear of flying. If anyone understands a phobia, it’s Finn and me.”
“But you fly places all the time, don’t you?”
“Sure. But I have to be completely knocked out.” Laurie chuckled, seemingly unembarrassed. “It means I have to get places a day early to recover.”
“I can handle a plane, but I have amaxophobia. I’m terrified of being in a car on the highway,” Ellery confessed. “And fires—I won’t even sit close to a fireplace.”
“At least yours are understandable,” Laurie said. “My flying phobia doesn’t even have a basis in real life. I’m also terrified of spiders. But not snakes. Go figure!”
“I don’t think anyone likes spiders,” said Ellery. “I have a fear of people staring at me.”
“Seriously? How are you going to handle modeling? Are you going to take a sedative?”
“I hope I won’t need that.” Ellery chuckled. “My first gig is just a photography session for a print advertisement, so not a lot of people involved.”
“So the Limitless banquet would be your first time modeling live? All I can say is you’ve got a lot more guts than I do.”
“Either I have a lot of guts, or I’m totally nuts.”
“You didn’t tell me Limitless had hired your agency to provide models for the banquet.” Ellery blasted Josiah the second he answered the phone. “Is that why you recruited me? Was this all part of some secret plan? And why didn’t you tell me Logan wasn’t going to the banquet?”
“Hold on! You’ve got it all wrong.” Josiah groaned. “I promise I never even considered you for the Limitless gig when I knew Logan was going. Those two things weren’t connected at all. And Logan only told me he was skipping the fundraiser a few days ago. He made me promise not to tell you, so my hands were tied.”
“Ah-ha! But it wasn’t breaking any promises if Laurie mentioned it.”
“Yep,” he said proudly. “And I wanted you to know. I don’t even care if he finds out I hired you anymore. In fact, I’m hoping you’ll work the event. When he finds out, he’ll be livid. And I’m hoping he’ll get off his butt and go to the fundraiser… salvage his career.”
“Allegra’s still living with him?”
“She is.” Josiah sounded like he had something sour in his mouth. “Something’s not right about her. It’s like every word she says is smooth and oily. Like a politician. Like she says what you want to hear.”
“Maybe she learned it from her dad.”
“Probably. She put me on the spot. Asked if she could work for me.”
“What did you say?” Ellery hated the thought of competing with Allegra. She’d quit the agency before she did that.
“I told her she was too perfect for Remarkable. Gave her the name of another agency.”
“That’s right. You like flaws.”
“It was a white lie,” Josiah admitted. “Lots of my models are stereotypical. Tall. Thin. Nothing the public would perceive as imperfections.”
“You have both kinds?”
“It all depends on the booking. If you need a model to be nothing but a clothes rack, you want him or her to blend into the background. But now a lot of my clients are choosing the models who stand out from the crowd, for whatever reason. We’re even getting some attention from Hollywood.”
“Wow! You’ve got models making movies now?”
“Nothing that big so far. A few commercials. But I’ve got high hopes. I think we could start a revolution.”
“Seems like the current Hollywood producers would love Allegra. She does have that look.”
“I don’t trust her.” Josiah cleared his throat. “And ever since she moved in, I’ve become persona non grata. Logan’s pushing me away. He got a new code on his gate and didn’t share it with me. His phone calls are short and curt—all business.”
“I know what you’re trying to say.” Ellery put a hand on her chest where it burned with acid. “I should never have pushed him to date Allegra. But I did. Twenty-twenty hindsight. I wish I hadn’t done it. But there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Your plan might’ve worked if the other woman were anyone but Allegra. Or if Logan’s dad wasn’t back in the picture. Somehow, between the two of them, I think they’ve turned him against you.”
“What did they say about me?”
“I honestly don’t know. Like I said, he hasn’t talked to me much in the last few weeks.” Josiah gave a harsh laugh. “Maybe they’ve turned him against me, too.”
“You’d think, growing up with a stepfather like Chester, Logan would be cynical enough to see through anything they said.”
“You’d think. But deep down, Logan is one of those people who wants to believe the best about everyone.”
“Everyone except me, I guess,” she said remorsefully.
“I don’t think his brain is firing on all cylinders. He was really hurt when you left him.” Josiah let out a long, defeated sigh. “This is partly my fault. From the beginning, Logan wanted nothing to do with Allegra. I’m the one who told him it would be an easy way to get you back.”
“Only because I’d already told him he had to try her out, like a couch.”
“Yeah, but you were naïve. I saw firsthand what Allegra did to him five years ago, and I know people don’t suddenly change their natures.”
